It surprises me that it doesn't seem odd to you. Where I'm from, that would never happen in a million years, and everyone including their sisters hunt.
Big antlers always makes the situation worse..............but picture yourself chasing a big buck for years and then finding out someone shot and snatched it off YOUR LAND under cover of darkness. I'm sure you would want every damn detail of those events explained from start to finish. Lastly, add in the mix possible previous issues with the guy you find out did it.........surely stoking the fire. People put A LOT of time and effort into their land........if they feel like someone weaseled their way in and leeched off all their hard work and financial investment then I can see why they would be very unhappy. As I have already stated, we have parasites hunting our lines and facing our food plots etc..........would I be pissed if I found out one of those clowns who is not respectful of us in any way killed one of our target bucks and took it off my land in the dark?? Damn right I would be. Would I be pissed if a cool neighbor called me and said he shot a big boy and he thinks it may be on our land by trails end, would it be OK if he went after it?? Hell no..........I would jump in the truck and help him find and drag the thing out. Most all these cases went sour between the guys long before any deer was ever killed I would guess.
Imagine how it would feel if you hunted a 200" deer for 3-4 years and finally connected, and recovered him under the assumptions of what you thought was legal, only to have it taken away.You have no absolute proof that anyone was in the wrong. I know I have a property that has no fence. It's timber and there's no fence at all. We all know around about where it is, but 10-15yds of it is kind of up in the air. Even the landowner is not 100% certain. He knows there's a corner stone "somewhere" but not sure where. The other landowner is the same way. It's a tricky, tricky property. All I'm saying, is you dont know 100% either way.
Where you're from. Try hunting next to "greedy" neighbors and/or outfitters. It happens. I know a guy who shot a 170" nontypical well on his side. He hunted this deer for several seasons. He called and asked for permission only to be denied. And next thing he knew, the outfitter had a picture on his website of his guides posing with the buck.
If I'd been hunting an area for 3-4 years I wouldn't have to "assume" I was on the right side of a property line. Also a GPS could be useful in that kind if scenario especially after dark. Last Saturday we had a kid hunting with his grandpa on the neighboring property, they went where someone told them to go and shot a huge 9 point somewhere near the line. When I saw them they were on our side and oblivious to that fact. Seemed like an honest mistake and I don't know which side of the line they shot the buck so I didn't raise a stink other than to point out the property lines but as a landowner it gets old having to show people posted lines. Know where you are hunting or retrieving, it's actually pretty simple. Everything else is just bs excuses and rationalizations.
I know that I'm going to get slammed for this, but I'll be damned if I work my *** off to kill a certain deer (and do so legally), only to have the neighboring landowner take it from me for dying a few yards across the property line. I would gladly pay the trespass fee for something that was rightfully mine. And no, I don't trespass onto other people's property. And no I wouldn't have a problem with the neighbors coming across the line to get a deer that they shot on their property. Anybody that wants to deny somebody else of their deer that they legally took on their own property is a complete jackass.
Exactly.........ignorance of the property lines and/or law is not an excuse. You don't know the lines???......that's your problem. That should be the FIRST thing you learn when looking at an area on the map.
I don't buy the guessing part because 99 out of 100 times the retriever just happens to be guessing wrong...........they see the deer, they know it's close and figure it's better to have deer in hand and deal with questions (if they ever even arise) then risk being told NO by the landowner because after that anything they do is knowingly wrong. Grab and run always allows them to plead ignorance.
Again, the circumstances dictate the result. Is your stand RIGHT ON my line and you have 10 acres vs my 400????........this almost assures that anything you shoot will die elsewhere and you are making it worse by hunting the line. Is it a few yards on my land dead???.........or is there 5 feet of hair and blood on your land then 150 yards of blood trail on mine?? Most of all, have you been respectful to us in the past when we met?? I think there is plenty of blame to go around that was festering long before situations like that goes sideways so quickly.
This thread makes me realize when I have the ability to purchase hunting land that I thoroughly research the adjacent land owners. I want things to be easy.
Well, for starters, I'm going to hunt the place on my property that gives me the best chance to kill deer. If that is close to the line then so be it. That being said, I wouldn't shoot a deer across the line, regardless of how big it was. But even if he was on my property, whether its 5 feet or 100 yards, what's wrong with me shooting that deer? So what if it was headed to your property. If I did everything legally then what is the problem? And it doesn't matter how many acres that I own. So you're telling me that even if we had past problems that you wouldn't let me retrieve a deer from your property even if I could prove I shot it on my side and you escorted me?
I have 32 adjacent landowners and most hug the wire. Over 37 years a few have lost any chance of retrieval due to past trespassing which we always prosecute for. This happened on a 196 a few years back and my neighbor would not let the other bad apple retrieve it.This guy had a 20 year history of this and deserved it. Sounds like Don has invested 20 years into the state Dnr game and knows the system. I am sure He will offer well thought out solutions soon. Sadly, most Dnr employees are products of a few universities(Minn., Madison, St.Point),same profs., same vision. Most are managing for "social" Dpsm, not biological herd health or age structure. It always comes down to politics, power, influence and $$$$. Wisconsin thru the "people have spoken" DTR process will unleash a toolbox of pain on the deer in 2014 which has never been seen before. 52 citizens invested 7 weekends driving to St. Point and were pawns in a predetermined agenda. The upper midwest DNR trend is to whack dpsm #'s as low as possible. Have you seen the stated dpsm goals from MN.? Why? I am not sure. Wisconsin will be a tale of two hunts public land north of hwy 29 and private land south of hwy 29. Welcome xbows for all, multiple weapon bonus buck tags, dmap, new Dmu boundaries wiping out decades of historical harvest data, setting Dmu goals only every 5 years, telecheck and raising antlerless tag fees form $2 to $12. The public land hunter will suffer the brunt while private lands will continue to be managed to meet the landowners goals.
You can hunt as close to the line as you want........just be prepared to deal with the possible consequences of doing so, such as possibly not being able to retrieve your deer. When you hunt close to or on a line it ALWAYS brings into question where the deer was shot (not always clear). You say you wouldn't shoot a buck no matter how big it was on the other side of the line???.....that puts you in about a less than 1% minority I would say. There's nothing wrong with you shooting that deer.........there's also nothing wrong with your neighbor telling you you're not allowed to enter his land to get it. Both are perfectly within each guys rights. It matters to me........when I spend deep six figures for my place and many thousands more in stands and food plots, that becomes a financial investment to me I expect to pay off in good hunting, timber value and gas/mineral rights. Anyone of those someone tries to leech off me I have a problem with. I spend my summers on the tractor and sweating putting up stands so that everything will be perfect come the fall.........not so some clown that does nothing all year but throw up a ladder on my line two days before the season on 5 acres his grandma owns can parasite off all my hard work and expense. There's a reason you're on my line.........because you wish you could come over it, well hop in for your part of the mortgage, bills, and field time if that's the case........if not, stop being a parasite and just enjoy what you have. If we had past problems???......yes, that's what I'm telling you.
I think a good start for IL is to have a ONE buck per year limit state wide and do the antlerless tags county by county, or WMU, which might include several counties?
That depends. Out west very few problems. In Wisconsin it produces many hunter conflicts. illegal/overbaiting, mineral sites, stand placement issues, deer drives, trailcam issues, ect. I would never buy adjacent to public or open Mfl property.
That's a good start. County by county regulations would be the way to go IMO. Just being for my area alone the county to the south is extremely urban and then you go west and it's even more rural than us. I have always been an advocate of the 1 buck rule even when things were really good. One thing that throws it off are the pockets of heavily outfitted lands. These parts are still holding deer by being micro managed, thus skewing an overall census for the county. Whether you increase outfitting costs, or set non residents up with a system similar to Iowa's draw, it will propose a tricky solution. Lastly say adios to OTC gun permits and all of these late season hunts. Go back to 1st, 2nd seasons, Muzzy there after, and then the handgun only hunt in January. Again just brainstorming. Some of the above may not be feasible, or likely to change.
"One thing that throws it off are the pockets of heavily outfitted lands. These parts are still holding deer by being micro managed, thus skewing an overall census for the county. Whether you increase outfitting costs, or set non residents up with a system similar to Iowa's draw, it will propose a tricky solution. " And there is the curveball that is probably making hunting tough for some of you IL hunters.
